Much of Chicago waves white flag as storm hits

As Chicagoans wake to face the remaining hours of a turbulent winter storm, much of the region has already surrendered: the city's two major airports are paralyzed, schools and businesses have been shuttered, and officials are begging people to stay off the roads.

With forecasts that wind-whipped snow could mount to 24 inches before the storm eases sometime Wednesday afternoon, officials predicted several days will be needed to dig out before things return to normal.

"Every Chicago resident should brace for a storm that will be remembered for a long time," said Jose Santiago, head of the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications. "This storm will task the city's resources and test the patience of Chicago residents."

The storm struck in earnest Tuesday afternoon, unleashing billowing sheets of snow and leading business and government offices across the region to shut down early.

More than 100 Commonwealth Edison crews were working through the night to restore power to thousands of suburban homes.

Metra trains, jampacked through the early afternoon as commuters fled the Loop, were delayed more than 90 minutes Tuesday evening because of switch problems stemming from blowing and drifting snow.

The entire length of Lake Shore Drive was closed shortly before 8 p.m., but officials hoped to have it plowed, salted and reopened before the end of the night, according to an OEMC spokeswoman.

At O'Hare International and Midway airports, more than 1,300 flights were canceled, snarling air traffic across the country. Airport crews will spend Wednesday plowing and brushing snow off runways and tarmacs, a slow-moving task along stretches of cement that can stretch more than two miles long and up to 200 feet wide.

The hope is that a limited number of flights can resume at some point during the day at O'Hare. Midway operations weren't scheduled to resume until at least Wednesday afternoon.

For the first time since 1999, Chicago Public Schools canceled classes, as did most area school districts.

"I woke up this morning with a vision of a 5-year-old trudging through the snow facing the teeth of a 50-mile-an-hour gale-force wind," said CPS' interim CEO, Terry Mazany. "That would have severely put that youngster at risk. Should that forecast materialize, we'd jeopardize the safety of the kids."

Roads throughout the state were hazardous. Gov. Pat Quinn issued a disaster declaration and activated more than 500 Illinois National Guardsmen to assist stranded motorists throughout Illinois. Guardsmen are stationed at rest areas from Interstate Highway 70 near St. Louis north to Chicago.

Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation was set to utilize its full fleet of 274 trucks and 120 garbage trucks with quick-hitch plows to clear main routes. Side streets will remain unplowed until the primary roads are cleared.

The Illinois Department of Transportation will have 1,800 snowplows spread out along its 1,150 routes, while the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority will have 183 snowplows out working.

"When the storm starts, it's an hour-by-hour process," said Thomas Byrne, head of Streets and Sanitation. "We're prepared as best we can."

The Chicago Transit Authority was running longer trains more frequently to keep tracks clear of snow and the third rail, which powers the trains, from icing over. CTA head Rich Rodriguez said the agency also plans on deploying four diesel-powered snow fighter locomotives with snow blowers on one end and rotating brooms on the other.

"As long as I can keep the trains moving every 15 minutes, we should be able to keep up with the buildup," Rodriguez said.

Waves of up to 25 feet were predicted on Lake Michigan, which could cause flooding along Lake Shore Drive.

Given the hazardous conditions, there was cause for elation Tuesday as a Canadian cargo ship reached Calumet Harbor with 24,000 tons of ice-melting salt.

Facing 50-knot winds and Lake Michigan waves reaching 15 feet, the crew of the Algomarine completed the two-day, 500-mile journey from Ontario to deliver its precious cargo. It made the trip with help from the U.S. Coast Guard, which broke up a layer of ice covering the Straits of Mackinac.

Commuters became early victims of the storm's wrath as they tried to leave the city early Tuesday afternoon. Union Station was a chaotic scene as travelers crammed onto platforms and trains to escape the worsening weather.

Metra staff held paper schedules and made frequent announcements — sometimes through megaphones — trying to direct passengers to trains operating on altered schedules and making additional stops.

Tammy Paradoski, of Arlington Heights, was forced to head back to the suburbs after her flight out of Midway was canceled.

"This is Chicago," she said. "This is what you get living in the Midwest in the winter."

Of course, every snow cloud has a silver lining. Supermarkets did strong business Monday and Tuesday, as shoppers exhausted supplies of bread, milk and bananas, among others.